We open in a Chicago brothel, as Al Capone (Stephen Graham) enters a room with his pistol drawn. Inside, he approaches a sleeping couple -- it's Jimmy Darmody (Michael Pitt) and his new girlfriend Pearl (Emily Meade). Capone motions for her to "shush" and, as a joke, shoots his gun smack dab next to Jimmy's ear.

Laughing hysterically, Capone says, "Look at the soldier boy..."

Jimmy, on the ground and bloody, isn't amused. "I can't hear anything out of my ear."

"Quit your belly-aching and go back to sleep," Capone tells him before leaving. Jimmy comforts the girl he was sleeping with who tells him that he's bleeding from the ear.

(*)This episode of 'Empire,' gets its name from Margaret's newspaper piece about the Grand Duchess Anastasia who was thought to have escaped the Bolshevik secret police who murdered the rest of her family in 1918.

Back in Chicago, Jimmy's girlfriend plays Florence Nightingale and tends to his bloody ear. To ease the pain, she tells him of an opium den in Chinatown and that the stuff is divine because it heals whatever needs ailing.

The lovebirds speak of Nucky, Jimmy's time in college and Pearl's aspiration to be in the pictures. Jimmy thinks she can be the next Lillian Gish. When Pearl tells Jimmy that he'd be welcome on her journey, Jimmy asks why she'd let him go.

"Because I think you need taking care of," she says.

* * *

In his office, Nucky wonders why it's taking so long to find the murder suspect for the lynching on one of Chalky White's men (seen in last week's episode).

Explaining the severity of the murder, Nucky chastises his Sheriff brother. "You're not looking for a lost cat."

HBOIn a stupendous scene -- perhaps the vignette of the episode -- Chalky tells a heartfelt story about his father, an artisan carpenter who built a gorgeous set of bookcases for a white man in his hometown of Elgin, Texas.

In Chicago, Capone tries to strong-arm a Greek saloon owner into buying booze from his boss Johnny Torrio (Greg Antonacci) as Jimmy looks on. The owner is already buying booze from an Irish gangster named Charlie Sheridan (Frank Shattuck). Like that matters to Capone...

It gets ugly as Capone gets a little rough with him. We can tell that Jimmy doesn't exactly agree with the tact he's taking.

At Babette's, the elite supper club on the boardwalk, Nucky and Eddie have a final walk-though for the birthday bash. Nucky finds a glass speared with lipstick and uncharacteristically flips the table before storming off.

The next morning at the jailhouse, Eli tries to intimidate Dinler. The Klansman tells him he had nothing to do with the lynching.

"Oh, I believe you. I really do. The thing is, though," Eli says, "I have to be sure..." It's an ominous, chilling statement. Almost as if Eli already knows.

At the dress shop in The Ritz, Madame Jeunet (Anna Katarina) tells Margaret that she will be needed later that evening. She is to drop off Lucy's delicate dress at Babette's (at Nucky's party) and help her put it on.

Boss Torrio, Jimmy and Capone talk shop back in Chi-Town. Torrio tells Capone that it's okay for him to branch out -- as long as it puts money in his pocket. What he doesn't need, though, is a headache in the form of a turf war.

Capone tells Jimmy that he's moving up and because he has huge coattails, "You're coming along for the ride," he says.

Jimmy tells Capone that he's just passing through.

Just then Sheridan and his men arrive.

As they enter, Jimmy has some words for the wise for his up-and-coming friend. "You don't take over a country all at once," he says. "You take it over one piece at a time."

Sheridan is insulted that Torrio isn't present as Capone and Jimmy attempt to cool him off.

The negotiation starts out pleasant enough -- especially with Jimmy's paramour Pearl strolling though. Easy on the eyes, Sheridan and his men more than notice her.

Jimmy tells Sheridan that Greektown is big enough for everyone.

Capone -- being Capone -- doesn't mince words and tells Sheridan to stay out or there's going to be trouble. Oddly, Sheridan seems to cave somewhat and offers up a piece of his action.

As Sheridan and his men leave, a proud Al turns to Jimmy and says, "Loudmouth... "

Jimmy, who smells a rat, sees it another way, "That's one way of reading it."

* * *

At the jailhouse, Dinler sits slouched, tied in his chair as someone yanks off his hood. While we first may think it's Sheriff Eli, we see that it's Chalky White and just know whatever is going to go down -- ain't gonna be good.

In a stupendous scene -- perhaps the vignette of the episode -- Chalky tells Dinler a heartfelt story about his father, an artisan carpenter who built a gorgeous set of bookcases for a white man in his hometown of Elgin, Texas. (**)

The bookcases came out so well that Chalky and his dad were welcomed back to the white man's house and asked to walk through the front door. It was a proud moment for Chalky, he said, to see his dad's work and the accomplishment it brought.

We can see Dinler getting more and more petrified as the story progresses. Chalky goes on to tell him that another man came to his dad. This time, bigger and better pair of bookcases was to be built. The only thing was, this new man had bad intentions.

"My daddy go with him to the edge of town," Chalky says. "Wasn't nothing there but six white men, 12 foot of rope and the pepper tree they hung him from..."

Chalky opens his father's satchel of tools and Dinler asks him what he plans to do with them.

"There’s a point in which if a man still sticks to his story, that's a man that's telling you the truth."

But the real proof? The sawed-off finger -- ring and all -- lies inside Dinler's hood...

(**)Just how may have Chalky's family landed in Elgin, Texas? According to the town's official web site, "By 1890, the population of Elgin had reached 831, and Elgin was growing during the next few years many new businesses were started. The construction business, brick making, farming, and nearby coalmines brought many Latin American and Black citizens to the area."

At Gillian's place of work -- the Cafe Beaux Arts nightclub -- Lucky Luciano sits in the audience, looking on, fascinated by this gorgeous showgirl who earlier so boldly told him off.

And then the zinger: "And as you've learned, if you withhold from women something they desire, then she'll surely find a way to withhold something that you desire..."

As Lucky walks Margaret to the dressing room (in order to help Lucy with her dress), he decides to dance with her. They look delightful and it's apparent that Nucky feels at home in the company of a fine woman like Margaret.

Just then, amid the sounds of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow," Lucy pops out of a life-sized birthday cake. Margaret looks on from the upstairs rafters as Nucky catches her eye.

Back in Chicago at one of Torrio's brothels, one of Sheridan's henchmen asks the madame for Pearl. Later, after they conduct their "business," he brutally slices her face. Downstairs, the rest of Sheridan's men shoot up the joint.

In a back room at Nucky's party, the politicos talk shop. Senator Edge tells Nucky that he has to face facts. "We have a Democrat for governor now..." he says.

Doyle tells them he'll work out a plan to steal graft money from one of Nucky's ward bosses. It's an easy three thousand.

In Trenton, a hand-truck of crates are delivered to Senator Edge at his office. Inside are bottles of Pim's Cup No. 1 with a note that reads:

"I do expect to have everything"

Outside the Cafe Beaux Arts, Lucky Luciano waits for Gillian. She sneaks up on him and tells the gangster that she knows he's been following her. But they way she's acting, it just may be a turn on. She makes an unladylike pass at him and they start kissing.

"Meet me here after the last show, Gillian tells him.

At the end of her shift in the dress shop at The Ritz, Margaret spots Nucky and Lucy happily strolling through the lobby. Before she leaves, though, she steals a slinky silk undergarment into her purse.

It's an uncharacteristic move. Does Margaret think that in order to snag a man like Nucky she has to have all the trappings of a woman like Lucy? Perhaps...

She stroll down the wooden way at the end of another long shift.

We fade out.

SOME OTHER THOUGHTS

•The theme of duality or being on the run was pretty apparent in last night's episode "Anastasia." Named for the Russian princess who may or may not have been on the run (and settled anonymously in America), we see shades of her in Margaret, perhaps wanting to adapt to a lifestyle seemingly like Lucy's. Pearl tells Jimmy she wants to eventually venture out to La La Land and make pictures while Jimmy tells Capone that he's just passing through and laying low so no one will see him. There are even two Nuckys -- the backroom savvy deal maker and the frontroom politician who can so very easily charm a wonderful lady like Margaret. Like Anastasia herself, we can never usually tell who these people are. It depends who they're talking to and what they want at the moment.

Edith Day in "Children Not Wanted."

• Edith Day (Erin McGrath) was performing at Nucky's birthday bash. She was an an actress best known for her roles in musicals and silent films. The song she sings at Nucky's bash is "Alice Blue Gown" and it can be heard HERE.

• Cafe Beaux Arts did exist. It was at St. James Place and The Boardwalk.

• I can figure out who's more adorable. Connor Noon as Tommy Darmody or twins Lucy and Josie Gallina who play little Emily Schroeder. The trio are pint-sized scene-stealers.

• Is anyone buying the glamorous Gretchen Mol character Gillian as a grandmother? I know mathematically it's possible, but still, I have to tell my brain to buy it each week. Speaking of Gillian, isn't it funny how she disses Tommy's toy by saying "They don't make things the way they used to"? Is it something that we consumers are just programmed to say?

• Where was Nelson Van Alden? Kinda missed that creepy dude... I guess Supervisor Elliot was serious about that much-needed time off last week.

• That catchy tune that opened "Anastasia" was "I'll See You in C-U-B-A" (Billy Murray, 1920).